No, Chinese baking is not fortune cookies. Milk bread, fried doughnuts, pineapple buns, pork buns (even a Hot Dog Flower Bun), steamed cupcakes, almond cookies, steamed dumplings and much more. Kristina Cho’s 2021 book, “Mooncakes and Milk Bread,” introduced America to Chinese baking, a mostly obscure category of cooking because most Chinese households did not have an oven. Baked goods were available in bakeries and the first items they introduced were European items such as brioche, custard pies, biscuits, and cakes, incorporating flavors and ingredients more aligned with the Asian palate.

Did I say I love Chinese Sponge Cake? One of my kids baked one for a birthday party and I became an instant fan—it is eggier than a chiffon or sponge cake, is less sweet and has a better, less airy, texture. Often called Hong Kong cupcakes and baked in paper wrappers in individual cone-shaped portions, the cakes are eaten out of hand with coffee or tea as a breakfast or snack. We bake our version in a springform pan with a parchment liner that results in charmingly uneven edges. The top domes during baking, then deflates while cooling, leaving a wrinkled surface so it has more in common with Pão de Ló, the eggy undercooked cake from Portugal.

In the Milk Street kitchen, we found that Kristina’s recipe was spot on but we wanted a tad more fat to make the texture more toothsome. We tried milk but that turned out a dense cake. Adding two extra egg yolks did the trick, up to eight from six. I often tell people to underbeat their egg whites but since the whites provide most of the lift, you do need glossy peaks. The good news is that we add cream of tartar and sugar to the whites which make them harder to overbeat and results in a creamier, more stable meringue.

Kristina Lo Cho is a great example of how two cultures often merge to produce something better than the original. She grew up in Cleveland after her grandparents had emigrated from Hong Kong in the 1960s and her grandfather, Goong Goong, opened a restaurant which became the family business. After abandoning architecture, Kristina started a food blog and moved to the Richmond neighborhood of San Francisco, often referred to as a second Chinatown, and blogging became her full-time occupation.

The best part is that Kristina Lo Cho has a sense of humor. She says that your choice of Chinese baked goods uncovers your hidden personality. “If your favorite is the tuna bun, you’re a risk-taker. You don’t know how long it’s been sitting out there, but you’re still ready to enjoy it… If your favorite is a bun stuffed with corn and mayo, you live life to the fullest.”

And if you love Chinese Sponge Cake? Perhaps you have a light, slightly sweet view of life. Well, that is what I tell myself every time I take a bite.

Chris Kimball

Christopher Kimball is founder of Milk Street, which produces Milk Street Magazine, Milk Street Television on PBS, and the weekly public radio show Milk Street Radio. He founded Cook’s Magazine in 1980 and was host and executive producer of America’s Test Kitchen until 2016. Kimball is the author of several books, including "The Yellow Farmhouse" and "Fannie’s Last Supper."